Improvement in railway ties



Uivrrnn WILLARD A. NICHOLS, OF MATTAWAMKAG, MAINE.

IMPROVEMENT IN RAILWAY TIES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 117,449, dated July 25,1871.

To all whom it may con-cern:

Be it known that I, WILLARD A. NICHOLS, of Mattawamkeag, in the countyof Penobscot and State of Maine, have invented a neviT and usefulImproved Railway Sleeper 5 and I hereby declare the following to be afull, clear, and eXact dew versely 'oln the tie, the tie being of softerwood.-

In the patent referred to the blocks or sections of plank are set in thetiewith their surfaces parallel with that of the tie itself, so that ifit is desired to set the rail inclined the surface must be cut away,thereby making it necessary to handle the ties a second time. I cut thecavity in the tie by a rectangular cutting-tool inclined to the tie, sothat the ends of the cut shall be inclined from the perpendicular andthe bottom inclined toward the center of the tie. In this way smallblocks cut from ordinary strips of plank may be inserted in the cavity,and the inclined surface be at the same time seciued. I thus am able toset the rails upon the ties inclined inward, presenting the surface ofthe head to the inclined tread of the Wheel, and, at the same time, usethe WVoodsum and Whitman tie with no increase in the cost of the tie.

I am aware that rails have been set inclined inward in order to presenta greater surface to the tread of the wheel, and do not claim thisarrangement; but

Having described my invention, What I claim, and desire to secure byLetters Patent, is-

A railway tie, in which the bearing for the rail is formed by a piece ofharder wood inserted therein, when the said piece is of rectangularsection and set in an inclined recess, in the manner shown anddescribed.

WILLARD A. NICHOLS.

VVitnesses WM. FRANKLIN SEAVEY, FRED FOSTER.

